LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In a new push, doctors, activists, and a doula join one lawmaker's efforts to get the Maternal CARE Act passed to improve the health of Black expectant mothers in the Commonwealth. The Kentucky chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) new video uses celebrity examples to shine a light on the issue. 

"The reality is, they are wealthy and they're going to be able to get the best healthcare. But that doesn't mean that they're gonna be believed when they talk about their pain, or that they're gonna be taken seriously," State Rep. Attica Scott, D-Louisville, says in the video released on Facebook, referencing troubles Serena Williams and Beyoncé faced. 

Scott filed several bills that did not pass this year's legislative session, including a bill that would allow doulas to be reimbursed by Medicaid.

"We can't talk about maternal mortality without having the conversation that Black women are three to four times more likely to die than their white counterparts," the ACLU Kentucky's legal fellow Mashayla Hays states in the new video. 

"Black women have always had worse health outcomes," University of Kentucky Associate Professor Dr. Corrine Williams adds. 

"It's my first baby," soon-to-be mom Imani Jackson beams. She's eight months pregnant with a little boy she will name Gabriel. "I'm feeling pretty good. You know, everything's been going [smoothly]," she's relieved.

Jackson says she's mostly confident in her healthcare plan because of her friend and doula Alexa Hughes. 

Hughes is a certified doula, running her own business Alexa's Birth Services. She provides care throughout pregnancy, support through childbirth, and even assistance to moms into the postpartum period. 

"You know I feel like I'd be able to lean on her," said Jackson. 

"I do feel it makes a difference," Hughes asserted. She's trying to make a difference to the startling reality of inequity in healthcare between Black and white women. 

There are problems Hughes says her clients face, like transportation to hospitals and even a lack of access to midwives. 

"The access for Black moms, where the majority of us are living, is not there," she explained. "I've literally had clients leave because they were told they didn't have midwives."

She's supportive of the new laws Scott is fighting for, especially reimbursement for doula services. However, she wants to see some changes to the legislation. She feels that requiring certain types of provider certifications to be reimbursed will disqualify many minority business owners. 

Jackson feels lucky to be able to hire Hughes for help, telling Spectrum News 1, “For me, having someone there like for me personally who will explain things and just be by my side and support me is important."

But Hughes says not all her clients are lucky with smooth births.  

"I just had a client right now, and it most definitely had to be the hardest birth I ever went through...and I can't even imagine how she's feeling going through it! Everything that we tried to fight in the generational curses, we unfortunately met them at every level," she lamented.

Hughes hopes some law changes, together with more awareness of inequities, can help reverse that. 

Although the Maternal CARE Act did not pass, there are plans to try again next session.